|
RAPAPORT... Three men have pleaded guilty to a violent kidnapping and jewelry store robbery in Meriden, Connecticut that took place on April 11, 2013. Court documents stated that at approximately 9 p.m. on the day of the crime, at least four men wearing masks and gloves, two of whom were armed with handguns, broke into an apartment on Gravel Street in Meriden where they bound four victims with duct tape and covered their heads with pillowcases, towels and jackets.
Three of the criminals then forced two of the victims into a victim's vehicle and drove to Lenox Jewelers -- in nearby Fairfield -- where the two victims worked. At Lenox Jewelers, the perpetrators stole jewelry, watches and loose diamonds valued at between $4 million and $5 million and then fled in the victim's car, leaving the two victims bound inside the store. William Davis and Jeffrey Houston, both of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Christopher Gay of the Bronx, New York, who have all been in detention since their arrests on May 22, 2013, admitted their roles in the crime to a Hartford federal court. Each man faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison for the robbery charges and a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of at least seven years on the firearm charge. Each man also faces a restitution order of approximately $3 million. Davis, 27, pleaded guilty on December 15 to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of use of a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence. Houston, 28, pleaded guilty on December 8 and Gay, 29, admitted guilt on December 10 to the same charges. Two other individuals have been charged with participating in this kidnapping and robbery and are awaiting trial.
|